thoughts

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susan

Bencher
So after the disappointment wears off how did we really go.I had hoped our side would get close to their 08 levels with snake returning and a fresh year ahead but it seems we have faded away.

THe opposition was ordinary as expected but completed their sets better as most bellamy coached sides do.
Losing killer is a massive blow goiing forward.Every side has a bloke they can't lose and he is it.Made worse by Matais suspension.
Prop rotation was always the main worry and proved spot on.King tried but Kite is a shadow of 08 and George simply can't go the trip over sustained periods.This is what may kill us.
Snake was good and looked confident
Choc was the only forward with any real punch in attack but his errors always come at the wrong time.Very frustrating to watch.
Glen and Buehrer were solid and will get better
I love Forans ticker but he lacks the creativity to be great 5/8.In a big pack like ours we could accomodate him at lock but in reality the only real option due to our roster may be to swap him with killer but Im not sure about that iether.
DCE was ok.As I have said relentlessly,these kids take time and we have no other real options anyway.I think we are finding that Ox was a little better than many gave him credit for.He certianly had the key to chock's game but sadly that key has been lost.
Williams hasnt changed except in that he has trimmed down,positionally vulnerable at centre and no real awareness.due to injuries he will be playing so needs to improve quickly.
hoppa was  good i thought.
bench lacks punch.buerhrer should start.looks like an 80 minute player.overall the bench looked way off the pace when compared to sides like the saints,tigers and roosters.

cunningham,palu  need to be given an opportunity quickly.

overall not as bad as many say but the scum were ordinary.killers injury early on  and the prop problem probably consigns us to a struggle for a while.it seems my optimism was a little misplaced but the rooster game will tell us a lot more about this side.maybe their high standards will bring the best out in the boys.I hope so as we ahve a very tough run early.
 
What is worse for 2012 is Kite is literally gone, Rose has never been the starting prop and who else do we have?? Cross, Gulavou, Mauro  :eek:?? We lost Hargreaves and Tasi, leaves us with a 20 year old Cunningham who all our hopes are now going to rest on.

Look at other clubs: Snowden, Roosters Frank Paul, Kennedy etc Raiders forwards, Panthers McKendry (2014) etc all re-signed, there is nothing left!!! That is what I mentioned earlier this year. As if we are going to sign Graham from UK  ::)

I even wonder how long Cunningham is signed for?? How the heck can Roosters have so many top forwards?? The future seems the Roosters at present: For us, this has the makings of a run of Cronulla proportions of adequate NRL players.

With watmough dropping off, this 2011 team could be a first with no Australian rep in our squad, and what about origin?? maybe Jamie, maybe Choc?? The question is how are we on the salary cap limit with no rep players??
Glenn, Brett, Kite, King,Ballin, Wolfie won't play origin again.

Zorba mentioned recently that Crusher said something "was in the air" I wonder what he meant? Is it the smell of an exciting future??
 
This has all the feel of 1999-2003. Lost some great players after that mid 90's dominance of 3 grand finals this is exactly the same feel. We had our time in the sun 2005 - 2009.  Now it's back to the dark era for a few years. N.E days are here again where's Sharpe.
 
Mick, my concern is the lack of quality to bring in!!! Brett, oldfield, whare, davey, hoppa, keiran, dce, riccardi are wonderful potential for future years. That is awesome work by Crusher!! In the forwards this is where we will struggle: maybe lussick, harrison, cunningham, higgins, only 1 prop and that is the number 1 concern. Loads of backs though.
 
I think we can forget 2008 as a distant memory. Kite is never going to regain that form. Choc is back to his blue arsed best giving away penalties and dropping pill. King tries hard but is no enforcer. No punch off the bench in the pigs. We will struggle all year if we can't dominate the middle of the ground. The Roosters will be a test of our depth by the looks of things, it could get ugly I'm afraid.
 
dont you think you have made your point Darren.Too old and injury prone and bad roster planning.How many times are you going to say it.I dont necessarily think you are wrong but please,i dont need to read it for breakfast each morning.
 
We just seem so injury prone since 2008. How many guys went down with serious injury last night. Hoppa, Lyon, Choc was struggling from the start , Galuvao, Ballin, Foran seemed to struggle with some sort of injury. Now we have Lyon, Wolf, Rodney, Whare out indefinitely. Matai and now possibly King under suspension due to lack of discipline. **** me when will it end or is it a problem due to conditioning and training. It seems since 2008 our training regime has changed and it shows in our lack of fitness and injury toll.
 
I thought Snake made an encouraging return. His break in the leadup to the Williams no try was what he always brought to the team and hopefully after a few games he'll get better. Injuries are a real worry but its only the start of the season so hopefully our luck will turn around.
 
Was I the only one that was impressed by Mauro's opening run from the bench

I want us to make a big play for Mose Masoe from the chooks
 
I think it's going to be a tough year! hopefully the halves gel but to be honest I think Foran is tough kid bud thats about it, not much creativity and cant break the line.
 
Foran is in the same mould as Travis Burns. Tough, a worker but not flashy or spectacular and not going to be the answer for what we need. We need a 5/8th with the skills to put guys like Snake Choc into gaps and set up attacking plays for the backs as well as the speed to take on the line and outmanoever the opposition which I really can't see him fulfilling.
 
I agree that Foran is a worker.  But he will be fine at 5/8 if DCE can step up.  That remains to be seen and I don't think we will know if he can make a good NRL half for a few months.
 
mickqld link said:
Foran is in the same mould as Travis Burns. Tough, a worker but not flashy or spectacular and not going to be the answer for what we need. We need a 5/8th with the skills to put guys like Snake Choc into gaps and set up attacking plays for the backs as well as the speed to take on the line and outmanoever the opposition which I really can't see him fulfilling.

He's better than Burns ever was and Foran will develop. He also doesn't have Burns habit of taking opposition players heads off and has a much better kicking game than Burns.
 
It comes down to 2 things for me...... solid defence and "Go forward".

In 2006-2008 they had both in spades and the confidence they gained on the back of that allowed plenty of time and space for their attack.

When everyone is available they have a very good squad but they need to get their defence in order and establish that Go forward. Brett looked good and will get better with every game, and Mauro impressed too.

Foran's fine.... he's a good ball runner and commits the defender everytime, which opens up the chance of the offload and or overlap. Very strong defensively too.

A loss to start the year isn't ideal but there is plenty of time work on all these things.
 
susan link said:
So after the disappointment wears off how did we really go.I had hoped our side would get close to their 08 levels with snake returning and a fresh year ahead but it seems we have faded away.

THe opposition was ordinary as expected but completed their sets better as most bellamy coached sides do.
Losing killer is a massive blow goiing forward.Every side has a bloke they can't lose and he is it.Made worse by Matais suspension.
Prop rotation was always the main worry and proved spot on.King tried but Kite is a shadow of 08 and George simply can't go the trip over sustained periods.This is what may kill us.
Snake was good and looked confident
Choc was the only forward with any real punch in attack but his errors always come at the wrong time.Very frustrating to watch.
Glen and Buehrer were solid and will get better
I love Forans ticker but he lacks the creativity to be great 5/8.In a big pack like ours we could accomodate him at lock but in reality the only real option due to our roster may be to swap him with killer but Im not sure about that iether.
DCE was ok.As I have said relentlessly,these kids take time and we have no other real options anyway.I think we are finding that Ox was a little better than many gave him credit for.He certianly had the key to chock's game but sadly that key has been lost.
Williams hasnt changed except in that he has trimmed down,positionally vulnerable at centre and no real awareness.due to injuries he will be playing so needs to improve quickly.
hoppa was  good i thought.
bench lacks punch.buerhrer should start.looks like an 80 minute player.overall the bench looked way off the pace when compared to sides like the saints,tigers and roosters.

cunningham,palu  need to be given an opportunity quickly.

overall not as bad as many say but the scum were ordinary.killers injury early on  and the prop problem probably consigns us to a struggle for a while.it seems my optimism was a little misplaced but the rooster game will tell us a lot more about this side.maybe their high standards will bring the best out in the boys.I hope so as we ahve a very tough run early.

There's actually nothing for me to add to this post, virtually summed up our situation completely.
I always thought for this team to make an impact this year we were going to have to play with a bit of luck (injury wise). Sadly last night it was the complete opposite...thankfully it's early days.
 
  We had no field position and no go forward and thats because we did not have a great kicking game and we made too many errors .
We are down on a few players and this is an opportunity to find out which players will show character and rise to the occasion.
 

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